Indigenous African musical and dance expressions that are maintained by oral tradition and that are stylistically distinct from the music and dance of both the Arabic cultures of North Africa and the Western settler populations of southern Africa. African music and dance, therefore, are cultivated largely by societies in sub-Saharan Africa. Melodies are usually organized within a scale of four, five, six, or seven tones. The songs are generally in call-response form and are sung in very large groups.
AFRICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS:
In the colonial period, trade, wars, and migration played a big role in African music. The interaction between the various sub-Saharan societes encouraged them to borrow/trade musical instruments from one another. Here are some of the instruments were "traded into" the African culture:
drums (bongo drum, armpit drum, diembe drum)
rattles
slit gongs
struck gourds
clay pots
stamping tubes
xylophones
bow
lute
lyre
harp
zither
flute
whistle
oboe
trumpet
bells
AFRICAN DANCE:
Purpose of African Dances:
teach social patterns and values
help people work and mature
praise family, friends, or Gods
criticize members of the community
celebrating festivals/funerals
competing
reciting history
proverbs or poetry
expresses life of the community
"Musical Training" of African danc eand music begins at a very young age when songs are sung to babies and dances are performed around them. The children begin to pick up on the dances and learn how to the play the instruments as soon as they are able to use their hands.
Warrior Dances: One example of a warrior dance is Agbekor. Agbekor comes from the Foh and Ewe people. It is an ancient dance once known as Atamga. Agbekor is often performed at cultural events and at funerals. Dance movements mimic battlefield tactics such stabbing with the end of the horsetail. This dance consists of phrases of movements. A phrase consists of a "turn" which occurs in every phrase and then a different ending movement. These phrases are added back to back with slight variations within them, and make up the dance.
Dances of Love: Dances of love are performed on special accessions, such as weddings and anniversaries. One example is the Nmane dance performed in Ghana. It is done solely by women during weddings in honor of the bride.
Rites of Passage and Coming of Age Dances: These types of dances are performed to mark the coming of age of young men and women. They give confidence to the dancers who have to perform in front of everyone. It is then formally acknowledged they are adults. This builds pride, as well as a stronger sense of community.
Dances of Welcome: These dances are a show of respect and pleasure to visitors, as well as a show of how talented & attractive the host villagers are. Yabara is a West African Dance of Welcome marked by ''The Beaded Net Covered Gourd Rattle'' (sekere-pronounced Shake-er-ay). It is thrown into the air to different heights by the female dancers to mark tempo and rhythm changes. This is an impressive spectacle, as all the dancers will throw & catch them at the same time.
Dances of Possession and Summoning These are common themes, and very important in many Traditional African Religions. They all share one common link: a call to a Spirit. These spirits can be the spirits of Plants or Forests, Ancestors, or Deities. The Orishas are the Deities found in many forms of African religion, such as Candomble, Santería, Yoruba mythology, Voodoo, and others. Each orisha has their favourite colours, days, times, foods, drinks, music, and dances. The dances will be used on special occasions to honor the orisha, or to seek help and guidance. The orisha may be angry and need appeasing. Kakilambe is a great spirit of the forest who is summoned using dance. He comes in the form of a giant statue carried from the forest out to the waiting village. There is much dancing and singing. During this time the statue is raised up, growing to a height of around 15". Then the priest communes and asks Kakilambe if they will have good luck over the coming years, and if there are any major events to be aware of, such as drought, war, or other things.
Indigenous African musical and dance expressions that are maintained by oral tradition and that are stylistically distinct from the music and dance of both the Arabic cultures of North Africa and the Western settler populations of southern Africa. African music and dance, therefore, are cultivated largely by societies in sub-Saharan Africa. Melodies are usually organized within a scale of four, five, six, or seven tones. The songs are generally in call-response form and are sung in very large groups.
AFRICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS:
In the colonial period, trade, wars, and migration played a big role in African music. The interaction between the various sub-Saharan societes encouraged them to borrow/trade musical instruments from one another. Here are some of the instruments were "traded into" the African culture:
AFRICAN DANCE:
Purpose of African Dances:
"Musical Training" of African danc eand music begins at a very young age when songs are sung to babies and dances are performed around them. The children begin to pick up on the dances and learn how to the play the instruments as soon as they are able to use their hands.
Types of African Dance (African Dance Descriptions)
AFRICAN DANCE VIDEOS AND MUSIC: